The yellow jersey has already chopped and changed multiple times in the opening week of the Tour de France, with Mathieu van der Poel wrestling it back off defending champion Tadej Pogacar by just one second on a thrilling stage six.

Sprinters Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) appeared to have put tensions aside after an angry moment between the pair arose during stage 2 of the Tour de France on Sunday.

A three-week Grand Tour will always contain natural ebbs and flows, and, for much of Monday’s stage between Valenciennes and Dunkirk, it looked as if the peloton had declared an unofficial rest day, with the riders happy to cruise back towards the coast after a weekend of wind, rain and intensity.

Tim Merlier pipped Jonathan Milan on the line in a sprint finish to win a crash-marred stage three of the Tour de France. The Belgian edged the Italian by the slenderest of margins with Germany's ...